REVIEW // INTRODUCING: FIGHTING SIDES Haven’t Scored Yet EP

Back in the dark days of late December 2015, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong tweeted that his ‘mission for 2016’ would be to ‘destroy the term Pop – Punk.’ Alarm bells ringing, fear not!

Bands are erupting through the surface at all angles, from all around world, it’s no surprise that friends are getting together to create killer pop punk. With pop punk taking the world by storm, and being so successful in 2015, the likely hood is that the bouncy genre will continue its winning streak. With the likes of The Story So Far and Knuckle Puck, fans are desperate for more.

So meet Atlanta’s very own, Fighting Sides.

It’s not often that things just fall into place, but for the guys in FIGHTING SIDES, that’s exactly what happened. Growing up in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Robbie Hiser has been playing in bands since he was 15. Robbie then decided to gather his friends and start a new band late 2015. With Robbie on vocals, Alex Downtain on guitar, Fluffy on bass, and Sheppard on drums, they quickly rose to prominence in the Atlanta music scene.FIGHTING SIDES released their first demo, called “Demo MMXV,” in May 2015. In the following months, they played dozens of shows across the southeast and built up their fanbase. With the band’s enthusiasm, visible at every show, th ey captured the attention of those who came to see them play in every city.

FIGHTING SIDES knew they needed to release an EP, so they returned to the studio in November to track with Jason Andrews (Go Radio, Holiday Parade), and In December, they finished off the year with a show in their hometown with Handguns (Pure Noise Records) and Roam (Hopeless Records) at The Masquerade.

The new EP who FIGHTING SIDES, worked terribly hard on, is titled “Haven’t Scored Yet,” and was mixed/mastered by Sam Pura (The Story So Far, Basement).

Let it Be being the first track on their upcoming EP, Haven’t Scored Yet, there are Simple Plan vibes throughout. This is a killer track, melody driven and home to a chorus so catchy that it will make anyone bounce. One More Day is next, and radiates feel good vibes, vocals are clean, making FIGHTING SIDES stand out from the generic ‘raspy vocals.’ Stand Tall, the third track on the EP is noticeably heavier than the two previous tracks, and demonstrates their musical ability and range. This is Our Night, the final song in Haven’t Scored Yet, is short but sweet, with gang background vocals, This is Our Night is everything a pop punk song needs. 6/10

Musicology were eager to find out more about the pop punk dudes, FIGHTING SIDES, from across the pond. We had the chance to talk to singer and front-man Robbie Hiser and this is what he had to say!

What are Fighting Sides plans for 2016? And would you guys be touring the UK sometime in the year?

We want to put out this EP and never stop touring! We love playing live shows, it’s definitely our favourite part of being in a band. We would be so stoked to tour the UK this year. We just gotta see if that opportunity presents itself!

Who are your musical influences?

I’d say our biggest musical influences are bands like Sum 41 and Weezer. We listen to a lot of 90s and early 2000s music.